Indian false projection of normalcy in IIOJK
SINCE illegally revoking the special status of the illegally occupied Jammu & Kashmir in 2019 by repealing Article-370 of its Constitution, India has been making failed attempts to sell the false narrative of return of normalcy in the IIOJK.
However, the reality on the ground is otherwise and negates Indian false claims as the security situation in the occuped territory is far from being normal and is getting worse by each passing day due to the iron-handed approach of the Indian government.
The Indian government has imposed the longest ever lockdown in IIOJK with an aim to scuttle outrage of the people, restraining flow of information and making the grievances of people inaudible.
However, the Hindu extremist Indian government of BJP claimed that ending the special status of Kashmir will bring development and normalcy, ending violence in the insurgency hit region.
However, the illegal revocation of special status of IIOJK authenticates the general belief in Kashmir that India wanted to effect a demographic change in the region.
India also scrapped Article 35 (A) of the Indian Constitution which limited certain residency rights to the local population and granted them certain protections.
Subsequently, the issuance of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020 disappeared any doubts about Indian mischievous plan to bring settler colonialism in Kashmir.
Through the new domicile law Indian citizens from outside Kashmir can obtain domicile status which in turn enables them to lay a claim on land and government jobs in the region.
India will host the leaders of the other G-20 nations for the summit which will be held in October or November next year.
However, Modi’s government is planning to hold some events related to the G-20 Summit in IIOJK in a bid to assert its false claim of normalcy in IIOJK.
This decision is a cover-up aimed by the Indian government to divert the focus from grave human rights violations by Indian forces and to mislead the international community about the real situation in the territory.
Pakistan has rightly cautioned the G-20 countries against accepting such a controversial Indian proposal for holding some of the meetings of G-20 Summit 2023 in IIOJK as it would be a complete disregard to the globally-acknowledged disputed status of the territory.
Moreover, India has been seeking to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory in flagrant violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
The G-20 summit in IIOJK means nothing for the oppressed and subjugated Kashmiris. India is trying to use the platform of G-20 to the narrative of normalcy without giving any importance to the aspirations of people of Kashmir.
India has a long history of using falsehood as its state policy and this is not the first time that the Indian government has tried to hoodwink the international community.
Previously, India presented a staged visit of EU parliamentarians to IIOJK as the official visit of EU delegations.
Another guided trip of foreign envoys to the disputed region was also organized to project that everything is right in the occupied region, apparently trying to fend off the growing international calls for independent investigations into the gross human rights violations in the region.
Showing concerns about the plight of minorities, especially Indian Muslims, the Human Rights Watch has said that since Modi came to power in 2014, certain legislative and other actions have been taken, legitimizing discrimination against religious minorities and enabling violent Hindu nationalism.
Introduction of Citizenship Amendment Act and the revocation of special status of IIOJK is manifestation of discriminatory policies of Indian extremist government to subjugate Indian Muslims particularly Kashmiris.
Indian strategy of revocation of special status of IIOJK to suppress and quell the voices of Kashmiris by stripping their rights, was destined to be a failure as the resolve of Kashmiris to attain their freedom from Indian occupation could not be quashed through such punitive actions.
Currently, IIOJK is one of the most militarized zones in the world where the movement of ordinary people is restricted, communication channels are suspended, fake encounters and illegal detentions are rampant and people are even not allowed to mourn the death of their loved ones.
Media blackout has made the flow of information from the region difficult whereas Kashmiri journalists are being detained and implicated in false cases.
Instead of falling into the Indian propaganda, the G-20 countries need to take a holistic view of the situation in IIOJK and not allow India to use the platform of G-20 to spread its lies.
Expecting G-20 countries to reject such a controversial proposal of India, Pakistan has said that G-20 members will be fully cognizant of the imperatives of law and justice and would reject the proposal outright.
G-20 countries must remember that India has illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which is a disputed territory as per the UN resolutions and use their influence to compel India to allow Kashmiris to decide about their future.
Instead of spreading lies and falsehood, India should allow independent fact-finding missions, independent media and rights groups to ascertain the real situation on ground.
India and the world need to realize that enduring peace in South Asia is possible only by resolving the Kashmir issue by granting the people of the IIOJK their inalienable right to self-determination as pledged to them in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
—The writer is a Research Analyst based in Islamabad.
